Massive fire in Queens

NEW YORK: A huge fire that erupted as Sandy ripped through New York City with near-hurricane force winds on Monday night destroyed dozens of homes in one of the city’s most remote neighborhoods, officials said.

The neighborhood, Breezy Point in the borough of Queens, had been extensively flooded by Sandy’s record storm surge, and firefighters were hampered in their efforts to bring the blaze under control, a spokesman for the New York Fire Department said.

No casualties were immediately reported and the cause of the fire was under investigation.

A tweet from the FDNY’s official Twitter feed said 50 or more homes were destroyed in the fire. The fire still was not under control by 5 am (0900 GMT), the department said.

Local television showed firefighters wading through waist-deep water to get to the massive fire. Some used inflatable boats to reach it.

New York faces the prospect of being without power for a week today after Superstorm Sandy caused mass blackouts and triggered a series of explosions.

In total, more than six million Americans across the Eastern Seaboard have been affected after the devastation wreaked by Superstorm Sandy caused power cuts on an unprecedented scale.

In New York City alone, more than 250,000 residents are without power after an explosion at a Manhattan power plant.
Around 50,000 power outages in downtown Manhattan in Battery Park and the Financial District were part of a planned cut and will take around three days to restore, but much of the damage was caused by the explosion at the 14th street power station and will take up to a week to repair.